Post-Game
I went out Wednesday to the grocery store with Beth, and she got after me for going 50mph in a 35 zone. And, truthfully, I was back in the car after over a week of postop non-driving status, and maybe I wasn't back in the concentrating groove as much as I should be. Still, I couldn't help remarking (to myself; I'm not an idiot) that it had only been a short six years since I sat in the passenger seat and took a lot of deep breaths while she figured this driving thing out.
And shouldn't she be criticizing me for driving too slow, or spending 15 minutes finding the closest parking space, or leaving my turn signal on for three miles? Suddenly I'm a hot rodder who needs an adult influence.
It's been a terrific Thanksgiving anyway, and I tip my hat to Beth -- her sweet potato/pecan casserole was the big hit, along with her dressing, cranberries and apple pie. And we had an interesting evening Wednesday, baking pies, complete with a flour explosion (my bad) and The Unusual Case of the Frozen Eggs, apparently a refrigerator malfunction, which resulted in sudden paradigm shifts regarding our cheesecake recipe ("Screw the lemon juice! Let's go no-bake." "No, wait, hand me a spoon...").
This was the first Thanksgiving in a few years that I didn't cook, being handicapped, and we all agreed it was our best meal ever, so. Julie went with the latest fad, the two-hour turkey (deep frying is so 2005), which means you sear the bird for 30 minutes at 500 degrees, then finish it off at a lower temperature with the breast portions covered with tin foil, sort of like Madonna circa 1997. It turned out fabulous, as did everything else, and then Dad got to clean up.
Beth started making "OCD" comments early on, particularly regarding my desire that dish towels be treated with respect, but the truth is I'm not a neat freak. I can be as messy as anyone. I just happen to know that without eternal vigilence our kitchen becomes a living monument to the second law of thermodynamics, which is my smarty-pants way of saying things can go downhill very quickly.
(Gordon Atkinson over at Real Live Preacher.com wrote about the second law of thermodynamics recently. I wrote about it nearly two years ago. Just in case you thought I was stealing.)
So I cleaned on Wednesday night, and cleaned last night too, so now we are cleanish, ready for leftovers.
I also couldn't throw out that lovely carcass without making soup, which of course no one would be eating since we have plenty of other stuff, so I ran out this morning and bought some new freezer containers. I love the food storage aisle, which scares me sometimes.
At any rate, we've had a good holiday and I hope you have, too. My blessings are bountiful, my daughter is home, the kitchen is clean, and the freezer is loaded with soup, just waiting for a cold day.
And the cheesecake turned out OK, too.
Explanation: Dressing already on plates. Lower right = broccoli-cheese casserole; mashed potatoes with melted cheddar and sweet potatoes are on either side of the turkey. The torso belongs to Julie.
5:21:20 PM 
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